In the past two years, the term "HDR" has become popular, but excessive media propaganda also makes people indifferent. So, what is the status of HDR's market development? Kendra Chamberlain wrote about HDR's technology and market applications. The full text is compiled as follows:
When Apple introduced the latest version of Apple TV, CEO Tim Cook described HDR as a technology that “makes the living room magicalâ€. It has been several years since High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging technology has entered the field of vision, but Apple's recent announcement marks an important milestone for the technology: HDR has finally entered the mainstream dictionary.
From 2016, consumers already have access to HDR content and devices. Ian Nock, a senior analyst at Fairmile West Consulting, joked that the history of HDR can be divided into two parts: before and after 2016 CES. At the 2016 CES show, most TV brands released new 4K HDR TVs, as well as some other products that support HDR.
Strategy Analytics analyst David Mercer predicts that HDR TV will enter nearly 5% of North American households this year. “From the point of view of truly supporting the coverage of HDR television, it is still at a very early stage. We are still in the starting position of innovative adoption of the curve.â€
Despite having received significantly higher industrial support than 4K, the popularity of the HDR ecosystem still faces a large number of problems.
HDR equipment grows but consumers are confused
As consumers' awareness of HDR increases, so does the complexity of market supply. From the market promotion of HDRs used by TV manufacturers, to the increase of end-to-end solution providers, to the confusing classification of certification, consumers are confused about HDR.
Paul Gagnon, head of TV research at IHS Markit's Technology, Media and Telecommunications Division, said: "In the industry chain puzzle, there is more that needs to be figured out by consumers. If you have an HDR TV, HDR source device (such as Blu-ray playback (or Apple TV for 4K) and HDR content from Netflix or Blu-ray discs, which doesn't guarantee that you will see HDR."
Most of the problems stem from confusing HDR terminology. This acronym word is used to describe video production formats, encoding formats, decoding capabilities, and display capabilities, not to mention the various patented solutions that have recently emerged.
Taking television as an example, the coverage of HDR TV is steadily increasing, but not all HDR TVs can display HDR content.
Gagnon said: "This does not mean that the display performance itself can fully render HDR. The actual brightness output of HDR displays is variable. The low-end HDR TV may only have a peak brightness of 300 nits, which is no better than today's non-HDR TVs. How much better."
In order to clear away doubts about the equipment, UHD Alliance has launched the Ultra HD Premium certification mark, certified to support the open HDR10 standard equipment. However, Gagnon pointed out that not all television manufacturers have certified their products, and many manufacturers still use the term HDR in marketing.
Further confusion comes from a series of end-to-end HDR solutions such as Dolby Vision, Samsung HDR10+, and others. These programs all meet the basic HDR10 standard, but all try to provide a better video experience. To enable consumers to fully enjoy the HDR effect of these end-to-end solutions, every aspect of the ecosystem needs to support this solution. At present, this is just a challenge for consumers to purchase.
Although these end-to-end HDR solutions have overwhelming publicity, the extent of coverage of these programs is still not clear. Nock said: "We still know very little about how many different TV and set-top boxes these technologies support." For example, Dolby Vision may not have covered the mass market. "They are aimed at high-end equipment."
OTT leads content transmission
While equipment coverage is increasing, the spread of HDR content services in the United States is currently limited mainly to OTT suppliers. Due to the ease of infrastructure upgrades, digital players have greater advantages, and OTT video equipment has become the first device on the market to support HDR.
As mentioned above, 2016 is a groundbreaking year for HDR equipment. In addition to the HDR smart TV army, Roku also launched the first HDR streaming media player; Sony released a software update for the PS 4 and added support for HDR; Microsoft subsequently launched the Xbox One S supporting HDR. In fact, the first Blu-ray player supporting HDR also debuted in late 2016.
As new HDR streaming media devices enter the market, online video providers first began providing HDR content to viewers. At the end of 2015, Amazon provided its first HDR drama and Netflix followed a few months later (early 2016). Both companies provide HDR content on their respective APPs, which are pre-installed directly on the new HDR TV.
Traditional content providers and distributors are also actively testing this technology. Gagon said: "Speaking of studios, broadcasters and distributors, they all seem to be excited about HDR, because this technology can provide a lot of performance enhancement and will have a significant impact on the visual performance of the next 5-10 years. influences."
The studio actively adopts HDR technology and believes that this technology can bring greater visual impact than 4K. As soon as the Blu-ray player entered the market, the studio immediately began releasing high-end HDR home entertainment resources, such as 21st Century Fox's "Mars Rescue" and "The Fantasy Rafting of the Juveniles."
Broadcasters and service providers ready to go
In the face of numerous solutions, traditional service providers and broadcasters have not yet reached out to any kind of HDR technology. The main issue they tangled up with is which type of HDR to support.
HDR technology is divided into two camps: Perceptual Quantizer (PQ) and hybrid log gamma (HLG). HDR10, Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which are often mentioned in the United States, are solutions based on perceptual quantification technology. Overall, HLG is more popular among broadcasters and is itself a technology jointly developed by BBC and NHK.
This disagreement is one of the stumbling blocks hindering service providers from supporting HDR. For linear TV services, HLG offers many advantages over PQ. For example, HLG can allow broadcasters to send only one signal to deliver HDR to HLG devices and SDR to non-HDR devices, while PQ needs to send two signals at the same time.
Fortunately, almost all major TV manufacturers have added HLG support to their HDR TVs through software upgrades. Nock said: "This is not a format war between PQ and HLG." He pointed out that each technology has its own advantages and disadvantages. "Since we now have universal support on TV, we will soon be covering the set-top box with the spread of services."
Experts agreed that linear broadcasting will not go to HDR for a short period of time. The solution for HLG is still very thin. Nock said: "Now some companies plan to launch plans, but it is not quite certain when they will be launched. In 2017, they did a lot of evaluations on which formats to use and how to launch them. In 2018, we will definitely see some mainstream ones. The plan appeared in Europe and the United States."
So far, only two service providers in the United States have announced HDR plans, which are Comcast and AT&T's DirecTV. Comcast is a multi-year leader in pay TV in the United States. As early as early 2016, Comcast first announced the HDR set-top box. However, according to Comcast, these plans have repeatedly been delayed due to the integration of 10-bit HEVC. At present, the company hopes to launch a 4K HDR set-top box at the time of the 2018 Winter Olympics. DirecTV also hopes to launch a 4K HDR set-top box in 2018, but there are few details about the product. Neither company also revealed what kind of HDR technology will be supported.
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